My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Results tagged ‘ David Aardsma ’

The Phillies, to prove that they are one of the best teams in the major leagues this year, have brought out the bats to easily defeat the World Champions Boston Red Sox, 8-2. The Phillies would score first in the bottom of the first as Jimmy Rollins would hit Bartolo Colon’s second pitch of the night out of the ballpark for his sixth home run of the season to give the Phillies a quick 1-0 lead. Three batters later, with a runner on second and one hit, Ryan Howard would hit a two-run home run, his eighteenth home run of the year, scoring Shane Victorino, who has earlier doubled, to make it a 3-0 Phillies’ lead. Two innings later, in the third, Howard would hit a solo shot for his nineteenth home run of the season to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. In the fifth, the Red Sox would cut the Phillies’ lead in half as Dustin Pedroia and J.D. Drew would hit back-to-back solo home runs off of Phillies’ starter Cole Hamels, for their sixth, and twelfth home run of the year, respectively, to make the score 4-2 Phils. But, that would turn out to be all of the damage that the Red Sox would be able to muster against Hamels during the seven innings and one batter that he would pitch tonight, as he would keep them generally quiet, as he gives up only seven hits. Then in the Phillies’ sixth, they would put the game away as they send nine men to the plate and score four runs. The inning would begin with Pedro Feliz getting a walk off of Mike Timlin, who was pitching in relief of Javier Lopez, who, in turn has pitched an inning in relief of Colon. Carlos Ruiz would follow with a single, moving Feliz to second. After Hamels sacrifice them both over to third and second respectively, Rollins would hit a two-run RBI single, scoring both Feliz and Ruiz, to make it 6-2 Phillies. Victorino would then follow with a single, sending Rollins over to third. Chase Utley would then hit a fielder’s choice ground ball, which would score Rollins from third, to give the Phillies a 7-2 lead. Howard would follow with a RBI triple, scoring Utley, making it 8-2 Phils. That would be how the game would end, as Chad Durbin would come in the eighth in relief of Hamels after Hamels has walked Drew to start the inning, and getting six of the seven batters that he would face, including a double play ground out off of the first man that he would face in the eighth.

Cole Hamel would get the win, going seven innings plus a batter, giving up only two earned runs on seven hits. His record is now 7-4 with a reduced ERA of 3.23. Chad Durbin would pitch two innings of relief, giving up no runs on one hit. Bartolo Colon would take the lost, giving up four runs on six hits. His record is now 4-2 with a 4.09 ERA. Javier Lopez would pitch one inning in relief, giving up no runs on one hit. Mike Timlin would pitch two-thirds of an inning, giving up four earned runs on four hits. David Aardsma would pitch an inning and a third, giving up no runs on one hit. Hideki Okajima would then come in to pitch a scoreless, hitless inning.

The three games series between the Phillies (42-30) and the Red Sox (44-29, 1st American League East) will continue tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park. The game will begin at 7:05 pm Eastern. The Phillies’ starter will be Jamie Moyer (7-3, 4.12), who is coming off a win against the Marlins on June 12, where he would go eight inning, giving up no earned runs on two hits, in the Phillies’ 3-0 win. Moyer has won five of his last six starts, while the Phillies would win his other start. In those six starts, he has pitched a combined forty innings, giving up fourteen earned runs on thirty-four hits, including four quality starts. Lifetime against the Red Sox, he is 6-11 in twenty starts. Moyer will be trying to improve his lifetime record against the BoSox while trying to give the Phillies two wins in a row against the World Champs. The Red Sox will send to the mound Jon Lester (5-3, 3.43), who is coming off a victory against the Orioles on June 12, where he went seven innings, giving up two earned runs on seven hits, in the Red Sox’s 9-2 win. He has won his last two most starts. He will be trying to defeat the Phils, while hoping to quiet down the offense.

The Phillies’ offense woke up tonight, lead by Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard, who both had three hits. Between them, the Phillies’ sparkplug and the big man got two singles, a triple and three home runs, knocking in seven runs and scoring four. It would appear that JayRoll is starting to come out of his recent swoon while Howard is definately getting hot. If these two can get into a major groove at the same time, along with Victorino, Utley and Burrell, it will be almost impossible for the Phillies to get knocked out of first place.

With the win, the Phillies are presently three games ahead of the Marlins, as they won their games against the Mariners. The Braves are presently still six and a half games behind the Phils as they won their game with the Rockies, while the Mets are also still six and a half games behind the Phils after their victory over the Angels. The Phillies will once again be trying to increase their lead in the division.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.